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My little space on the web where I blog about comics and comic books, drawing and illustration, graphic design, writing stories, and a few tips and tutorials from time to time about them. I'll also share bits about movies, theater, music, (maybe even cooking!) and whatever strikes my fancy.

This eight-page piece was supposed to be part of a printed anthology, but that anthology never saw the light. So I'm presenting the story here. I hope you like it.

As is customary with these things, copyright belongs to me. And you are certainly welcome to repost one or two pages in your own parcels of web real estate, with a link to this post. If you repost all eight pages, however, you are open to people calling you strange names.

(click on each image to enlarge; then click on the browser "Back" button to go back to this post.)

1) See three of the best!Tanyag showcases three enthralling Palanca Award-winning one-acts on August 28 (7pm), 29 (3pm), and 30 (3pm), at the PhilamLife Theater along United Nations Avenue, Manila. Chris Martinez' Our Lady of Arlegui, J. Dennia Teodosio's Baka Sakali, and Floy Quintos' Ang Kalungkutan Ng Mga Reyna present some of the myriad facets of Filipino life in ways fantastic, humorous, tragic and insightful.

2) Aching to shoot pics like the pros?Basic Photography: Understanding Exposure is a three-part seminar to be led by veteran photographer Edwin Celestino. Take better pictures with your D-SLR or adjustable digicam by participating in online lectures and field work. The online seminars (or webinars) will be held on Tuesday, September 22 and Thursday, September 24, both at 8:00pm. The field session will take place on Saturday, September 26, 5:00 pm at the Manila Baywalk. For more information on fees and how to register, visit the Facebook page.

I've always wondered how the Zaturnnah story would look in color. Knowing, however, that a color book would be next to impossible (not to mention expensive), I've always drawn my work with a black-and-white mindset. Anyway, two fine souls gave the coloring a shot.

The image on the left was colored by TornElf and the one on the right was by samboyy, both of whom are on DeviantArt. Click here and here to get a full page view. (When you get to the DeviantArt page, click on the image to enlarge it.) Thanks to these fine artists for taking the time. Thanks, too, to Joel Chua.

A new plant has been found in the Philippines. This new plant, which is capable of trapping and eating rats, was discovered in 2007 by a British-led team. The team decided to name the plant Nepenthes attenboroughii, after the wildlife broadcaster Sir David Attenborough. See the picture through the Telegraph website, and wonder why they didn't call it Nepenthes filipinensi instead. (Or, they could've used the names of the Christian missionaries who reported the plant's existence. Give credit where credit is due.)

Addedum 8/19/09: Apparently, there is already a Nepenthes philippinensis, also endemic to P…

1) Enjoy a Show! Tanghalang Pilipino's 23rd season opens with Savyon Liebrecht's Apples from the Desert (Mga Mansanas ng Disyerto), a generation-gap comedy about a young woman who seeks to liberate herself from the strictures of her traditional parents. Translated by Liza Magtoto and directed by Tess Jamias, the play runs from August 7 to September 14 at the CCP Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino. Tickets available at Ticketworld, or through the CCP box office.

2) Shedding Light. Eloi Hernandez hosts a forum entitled NAA, NAA, Paano Ka Ginawa? A Public Forum on the National Artist Award, to be held on Tuesday, August 25, 2:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon, at the College of Mass Communication (CMC) Auditorium, Plaridel Hall, UP Diliman.Speakers include, Atty. Teodoro Te, Prof. Eufracio Abaya, PhD, Prof. Bien Lumbera, PhD, and Prof. Roland Tolentino, PhD.

The statement, "Back at' ya!" took a profitable meaning when Filipino-American Elizabeth Tagle won an anti-defamation case against Guess co-founder Georges Marciano. Tagle, along with five former Guess employees which Marciano had previously fired, had been sued for embezzlement. Tagle walked away from the courtroom $74 million dollars richer. Read the Northwest Asian Weekly news report.Last August 4, the American Psychological Association adopted a resolution that reparative therapies that purport to "cure" homosexuality do not work, and advised practitioners not to lead patients into believing otherwise. This is after over four decades of peer-reviewed studies. Read the Washington Post report.Speaking of homosexuality, Harry Potter star Danielle Radcliffe recently donated a huge sum to The Trevor Project, a homosexual support group for young people. Radcliffe calls homophobes "disgusting and stupid." Read the report at The Hindu.In local entertainme…

I dropped by the Metro Comic-Con last Saturday for a little go-see. Despite the Megatrade Hall being a bit too spacious, the event appeared well-attended, though I didn't stay too long. After so many years of not having any major project to promote, I felt a bit like a fish out of water.

In between chatting with Wilson Tortosa, Syeri Baet, Lyndon Gregorio and Johnny Danganan, saying hello to Budjette Tan and Gilbert Monsanto, and taking pics with Gio Paredes and Gener Pedrina, I picked up a few comics here and there. While I do enjoy reading the works of my fellows, there comes the occasional tinge of quiet envy, like I've been lax at this whole comics-making thing while the others religiously keep the pages coming. I do have that six-pager in the first Komikero Komiks anthology, and I'm submitting an eight-pager for its third issue. There's also another Graphic Classics assignment due in a few months...

The G.I. Joe movie sucked like anything. Pffft! Seemed like it didn't know what it wanted to be. On one end we got Storm Shadow stabbing and slicing at people, then on the other end we got cheeseball romantic interludes between Ripcord and Scarlett. The climactic CG-stuffed underwater scenewasn't as pulse-pounding as the CG-stuffed Paris chase scene. and their take on the Baroness...well...not the one I remember from the cartoon... One-third into the movie, I was entertaining urges to bolt from the theater. Good thing Channing Tatum was in it. He was the main reason I wanted to watch the movie, and eventually became the reason why I stayed in my seat. The online petition to sanction Wowowee host Willie Revillame has topped 32,000 signatures as of this writing, and the vitriol just keeps spewing. Question is: to where does this online petition go? Wowowee director Johnny Manahan recently spoke with the Philippine Entertainment Portal to air his side of the issue, saying "…

Long live the memory of Corazon Aquino. It's too bad that she did not stay with us long enough to see the Philippines reach the height of greatness. Over 20 years after EDSA, we are still a damaged society. Let her story, that of a simple housewife who decided to bear the weight of a nation, remind as all that true change starts with the individual.Carlo J. Caparas ought to say, "Thanks, but no thanks." Caparas can be credited with significant contributions to Philippine pop culture, but not the visual arts, and the artistic merits of his film work are highly debatable. If any comics personality should be given the title National Artist, it should be those who have established the trademark "Filipino komiks art style," a style which eventually gave these thespians recognition abroad. For film, we have a lot to choose from--Dolphy, Gloria Romero, Mike de Leon, etc.Another person who ought to say, "Thanks, but no thanks," would be Lani Mercado, who was …

I've had a long and fruitful career in graphic design, article writing, and magazine art direction, and I've dabbled in theatre acting, playwriting, and teaching in university. But Fate led me to making comics, where I've found unexpected and flattering success.